


Smooth Crescendo

by LadyGrey_BlackTea



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Comedy, Cuddling Twin-Tailed Inferno-Tooth Tiger (The Dragon Prince), F/F, F/M, Gen, Gren Mama (The Dragon Prince), M/M, Minor Amaya/Janai (The Dragon Prince), Minor Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Minor Corvus/Opeli (The Dragon Prince), Mother Hen & Baby Chick, POV Multiple, Post-Season 3 (The Dragon Prince), Soren Needs a Hug (The Dragon Prince), Sorgren (The Dragon Prince), The Dragon Prince Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:33:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 17,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22279456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyGrey_BlackTea/pseuds/LadyGrey_BlackTea
Summary: Alt. title: The One Where They're Still in XadiaThe battle of the Storm Spire was finally over, but, with so many wounded, the Human forces decided to remain in Xadia before marching back home. With so many people to lodge, everyone is assigned a roommate, but the last time Soren talked to his roommate ended with Gren chained to a wall in Katolis secret dungeons.As the Crownguard stablishes himself as something different from “Lord Viren’s son”, he finds friendship and acceptance, but still struggles with old nightmares.Set straight after Season 3 finale.
Relationships: Amaya/Janai (The Dragon Prince), Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Gren/Soren (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 40
Kudos: 109





	1. Chapter 1

## Chapter 1: Soren

## The One Where Soren Gets a Roommate

“A roommate? What? Who? When? Why?”

Callum repressed a sigh before answering.

“Soren, the Storm Spire was never meant to lodge so many people at once, all of us are sharing a room with someone else. You should be grateful to even have a room to share; most people will be camping below.”

The battle of the Storm Spire left too many wounded to hit the road back, so the Sunfire elves, Queen Aanya’s army and Katolis’ rebels decided to remain at the Spire to recover. They had already performed the funeral rites for the fallen ones.

“Ok, I get it. So I’m stuck with you, huh?” Soren shrugged.

“Thanks God no! I’m with Ezran, of course.” Callum shivered at the suggestion.

“If you’re not with me... than... who is sharing my room? And why you’re thanking God? You should be sorry you’re not with me. I have excellent sleeping habits,” he said, a smug smile in his lips. “By the way, do we believe in God in this universe?” he digressed, scratching his itching stubble.

“The show’s creators mentioned that we have some religion and mythology, though we shouldn’t break the fourth wall at the beginning of this work. Anyway, you’re with Commander Gren.”

“Oh... er... Commander... Gren?” Soren stopped scratching, feeling the blood from his face draining away.

“Yes. Are you acquainted?”

I’m the one who got him into Father’s dungeon and chained him to a wall. Yes, you can say we are acquainted. Even if it was at Father’s orders, I am pretty sure that guy hasn’t forgotten. “Well, we’ve met before, but...”

“But...?”

“Perhaps you should, you know, sleep with that elven girlfriend of yours and I can sleep in King Ezran’s room”, Soren said with a knowing grin.

“What are you saying? No, we can’t! We’re not like this yet!” the prince said, turning as red as an angry glow toad.

“ _’Yet’_ , huh?” the blond added an arching eyebrow for enhanced effect.

“Stop it, Soren, I know you’re trying to divert my attention!”

So he noticed. Oh, our little prince did some growing up these last weeks. “’ _Divert my attention’_? Now you sound like a proper step princeling, my lord.”

“Soren.”

“No, I’m Soren. You’re ‘my lord’, ‘Callum’ or ‘step prince’.”

“W-what? Stop dodging my question.”

“What question? Are we still talking about you sleeping in your girlfriend’s room?”

“Aaargh, stop saying that, you musclebrain! Someone might hear and misunderstand it! Even worse, _she_ might hear and misunderstand it!” Callum was getting redder by the minute. “Anyway, finish your tasks, pack your stuff and move to your room. You’re in the West Wing, second floor, second corridor to the left, first corridor to the right, in the last room to the left. And don’t get on the Commander’s wrong side or Aunt Amaya will kill you and then kill me, she was the one who proposed this arrangement.”

_General Amaya_ suggested it? I’m in a deeper hole than I thought. “’Musclebrain’? Thank you, Callum. I always knew you cared!” he said, in a falsetto voice.

“’Musclebrain’ isn’t a compliment, Soren...”

“What do you mean ‘not a compliment’? If it has ‘muscle’ in it, I’m sure it’s a good thing”. He flexed his right arm to show off his biceps.

Callum did not repress this sigh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Please, let me know your thoughts about this work. It's been AGES since I last wrote a fanfic, but I'm having fun with this one.


	2. Chapter 2

## Chapter 2: Callum

## The One Where Rayllum Watch the Sunset From the Top of the World

The sun was setting when Callum finally finished his tasks and met Rayla at the pinnacle of the Sky Nexus. It was an unusually clear day, allowing them to glimpse some green patches below from the gap between the thinning clouds. The sky was a masterpiece: the sun was dipping below the horizon, shining golden shades of yellow and orange to a darkening blue canvas. The clouds below were colored in bold red and rich purple, adding a million sparks of color to her violet eyes until they glowed like a thunder dragon’s egg.

They sat at the edge of the pinnacle, looking down at the place they had jumped over just yesterday. The air was clear and the wind calmed from the usual gale to a merely strong breeze, bringing her scent to his nose. She smelled like dew on fresh cut grass with a hint of that flower that blooms at night. Jasmine?

He took her hand on his own, intertwining their fingers. His five fingers surrounded her four fingers, his thumb and pinkie in the outer edges of their hold. He loved how it looked like he was protecting her from all sides. Not that the assassin needed much protection, she could beat the crap out of him in a heartbeat. Rayla squeezed her hand back and gave him a smile. They remained in a comfortable silence until Rayla’s voice interrupted their thoughts.

So... I guess it’s Big Feelings Time...” she took a long breath and let it go slowly. “You know, Callum... I was already dead when I tackled Viren over the edge yesterday...”

“Rayla, I...”

“It’s the Moonshadow way.” she continued over his interruption, brushing her thumb over his hand apologetically. “When you accept that you’re no longer alive, you have no fear of death. However, there was only one face I wanted to see before the end. It wasn’t my parents’, Runaan’s or Ethari’s... it was your face. I really wanted to see you one more time...” she said, her voice trailing until it was barely a whisper. “When you appeared in the sky above me, I thought it was a dream or a hallucination...”

“You know...” he had to clear his throat to force the sound out “when I was down at the battlefield, my mind kept wondering how you were doing. When Ez told me to go to you, I didn’t even think that he’s a 10-year-old brother that might need my help. All I could think was you. When I rushed the last steps and saw you falling...” he could not finish the sentence. The prince didn’t have the time to consider rationally if the Manus Pluma Volantus spell would work, but he believed that he would have made the jump even if his reason decided against it.

The elf nodded, her eyes glistening, and tightened the grip on their hands until it hurt, using the pain to reassure that they were alive. That vulnerability that she only showed to him made her even more beautiful to Callum. He was honored to be the one who knew this side of her and would treasure this moment for all his life.

She brought her free hand to the side of his face, gently guiding his face towards hers. Their lips touched as their eyes closed, at first just a brush as light as a feather, but deepening into an intimate kiss. Callum’s hand trailed from Rayla’s arm to her shoulder, than up to the back of her neck until it stopped at the base of her pointed ear. He had liked her ears from the very start, noticing how lovely they were even when she was trying to kill him.

The prince’s heart was beating like a parade drum as the couple stood apart some minutes later, catching their breaths, with joined foreheads and looking into each other’s eyes. Some minutes later, Rayla stood up, offering a hand to her boyfriend.

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we should be heading back.”

Callum accepted her hand and stood up. “Yeah. I hope the roommates are working well. It was a hell to split the rooms.”

“Did you have any problems on your side?”

“I don’t know... Soren was trying to make me change his room earlier, it was suspicious...”

“Oh, _that_ guy...” Rayla rolled her eyes “Didn’t your aunt choose his roommate exactly to avoid issues?”

“Well, Commander Gren is a very easygoing man, so it should be ok even if it’s Soren. You’re right, let’s trust Aunt Amaya on this.”

“By the way, I’m glad she’s getting along well with Queen Janai.”

“Me too. Aunt Amaya looks happy too. Also, it’s good that there’s another human-elf couple besides us, I hope it becomes a common thing in the future.”

“The world will become a better place if it happens.”

“Let’s make it happen then. It would be easier if humans and elves don’t try to kill each other when they first meet, though. It’s becoming a pattern.”

“What’s the fun if they don’t try to kill each other?”

“I hope you’re kidding.”

“Yes, I’m kidding” she said, flatly.

“Are you really?”

Rayla’s grinned. “Meet you at dinner?”

“Of course” Callum said, pecking her cheek before they went their rooms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rayllum wasn’t really in my initial plans, but by this time I’ve already accepted I’m no good with planning anyway...


	3. Chapter 3

## Chapter 3: Soren

## The One With Soren’s Clean Underwear

“I should have taken notes of the directions... I’m pretty sure I’m in the right floor, but... it was the third corridor to the right and first corridor to the left... right? Or was it the third corridor to the left and second corridor to the right? Why is that when you need to ask for directions, there’s always no one there?” Soren said to himself, turning into another wrong corridor.

He was getting more and more impatient as he went back and forth, trampling his way through the hallways. He briskly turned at the next corner and barely had time to see a flash of ginger hair before clashing against a breastplate. He lost his balance, toppling over, and was already bracing himself for the fall when strong arms went around him, pulling him up.

“Man, thank you! You were a lifesav...” Oh no.

Tallish height, check. Freckles, check. Gentle blue eyes, check. Ginger hair, check. That stubble doesn’t check, but anyway… Of all the people in this place, he had to clash into _this_ guy. How could he forget whom he was going to share a room with?

“...er... Good evening, Commander Gren.” He stepped back to get some distance between them, untangling from the other’s grip, but he didn’t realize that there was a rough stone on the floor next to his feet. He tripped, almost falling again, but somehow got his balance back. “Lucky to find you here, I’m got a bit lost,” he said hurriedly, grinning smugly to hide his embarrassment.

“... Good evening, Crownguard Soren. I was actually looking for you.”

“Y-you were? I mean, good thing you found me, I saved you some time, huh? Now that you’re here, could I ask you how I get to my room? I-I mean, our room?” he stammered. “I’m not saying that I need to ask for directions anyway...”

“As I thought, you really got lost.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll show you the way. Will you be able to remember it?”

“Yes, I usually have a good memory of what I listen and see, even though people always says the smart one is Claud...” Soren suddenly stopped walking, remembering the last time he’d seen his sister. The disbelieving look on her face. He, kneeling on the ground, his sword forgotten. The growing red in his father chest like a blooming flower. Even if it was an illusion created by Dark Magic, the shock had been pretty much real for the both of them. A wave of nausea washed over him and he gulped hard. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to pull himself together.

_What’s done is done. You did the right thing, Soren._

“Soren?”

He reopened his eyes, looking straight at honest blue eyes, now full with concern.

_Really? I chain this guy to a wall in a secret dungeon with only my father and a Moonshadow elf assassin for company and the same guy is concerned over me? Where did he come from? Mamaoodlia? Del Mom? Mothernere?_

“I’m ok, I just noticed there a pebble in my boots and I’m trying to shift it.”

“I see...” By the look on Gren’s face, he did not see. “Well, here we are,’ he said, throwing a door open.

It was a well-proportioned corner room, with two big windows providing plenty natural light. Two beds with trunks at their feet, desk and chair, all in solid wood with decorative carvings like the scrolls in the entrance of the Dragon Queen’s lair. A stand with a washbasin and mirror completed the bedroom set.

One of the beds was already claimed, so he went to the unoccupied bed and laid his possessions on top of the trunk: sword with its scabbard and his just recovered saddlebags. Not really different from when he shared a room with his sister when they were hunting for the princes.

_How’s Claudia dealing with all the hell that happened? And just by herself? Why didn’t she come to him after the battle was over?_

“Do you need help getting the rest of your stuff?” Gren’s voice brought him back. He was leaning on the doorway, arms crossed in front of his chest.

“No need, that happens to be all my stuff. But thanks for the offering.”

“I thought you were in a march with an army before coming here. Shouldn’t there be more stuff?” The ginger-haired asked, frowning a bit.

“We had already set up camp when I sneaked out, so all I have is what was in my saddlebags. I’m even lucky to have my saddlebags, when I arrived here I freed my horse and forgot to take my stuff beforehand.”

“Oh... and how do you have them now?”

“Can you believe that my horse actually came back after the battle with everything, saddle, reins and saddlebags? I even told him he could find a nice unicorn, but I guess there weren’t any around here.” Seeing that the ginger head was making a weird face, he added the first thing he thought about to hide his awkwardness. “And now I have clean underwear!”

_Why did I have to mention my underwear to look less embarrassed? Even though having clean underwear is indeed a blessing._

“As a roommate I’m glad you got your clean underwear. Anyway, there’s a men’s bathing room here, I’m going there now to get ready for dinner. Do you want to come along?”

“I’ll go too. Let me get some things and unstrap my armor.” Soren started to rummage through his saddlebags. “Hey, look! I have some sets set of clean clothes too! I’ve been wearing the same clothes for so long I think they’ll start moving on their own.”

“Please, take three baths before entering this room again.” Gren said. “And burn your used clothes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading so far! The fact that Soren didn’t even take the saddlebags off his horse when he set it free really bothered me when I was watching the show. Who sets a horse free in the wild without removing the saddle and the reins??? Poor horsie...


	4. Chapter 4

## Chapter 4: Gren

## The One Where Soren Fixes Yet Another Bridge

Soren was not what Gren expected. Considering the last time they met, he thought the blond would be more cunning and mature, but now that they have talked, Gren was starting to think that the youngest Crownguard in history was a... peculiar kid. With emphasis on ‘kid’.

“I’m so glad I can get a real bath here. I’ve been dying to shave this stubble off.” Soren said, interrupting his thoughts.

“I know, the itching is terrible, right? I still haven’t got rid of mine since getting released from the dungeons,” Gren said, nonchalantly.

The younger man halted.

_Oh droppings. I didn’t mean it that way._

“Commander Gren, I know the last time we met was under less friendly circumstances, but I’d like to you know that, if it was in my power, I would have followed you in the search for the Princes instead of locking you in Father’s dungeon.” Soren said, looking him in the eye, awkwardly. “I am truly sorry for that.”

 _So_ that _was why he was acting weird before. What an unexpectedly pure kid. If he thinks I can hold a grudge then he doesn’t know me. Oh, come to think of it, he really doesn’t know me._

“I understand, Soren. I won’t say it wasn’t wrong, but, as a fellow soldier, I understand that it isn’t always in our power to question orders. Besides, I’m grateful that you managed to do it without hurting anyone, it was a smart move there.”

“S-smart?” The Crownguard repeated, testing the sound as if he’s never heard the word referring to him. Considering his background, perhaps he hasn’t.

Gren came from a loving family, General Amaya was like a caring (and joking) big sister and the Standing Battalion was his second family, so seeing a young man who clearly wasn’t treasured and respected by his own folks made him feel sorry.

“You were indeed quite smart, but you sure preyed on my pure heart...” the Commander said, in a joking tone.

“Ah, er... sorry about that.” Soren blushed. “So... are we good?”

“Yes, we’re good. Now let’s get rid of your stench.”

“I’m not stinking.” Soren raised his arm, gave a sniff and made a disgusted face. “Ok, I changed my mind. I might need a bath. Ugh...”

By the time the two of them arrived at the bathing room, Gren was chuckling so much his abdomen hurt. Thankfully, the bath was almost empty; the last thing he needed now was someone trying to pick a fight with Lord Viren’s son. Several minutes later, they emerged from the room, squeaking clean, with twin shaved cheeks.

“Aaah, this smoothness... I missed it so much...” Soren was rubbing his hands on his face with a smile of pure bliss.

“It’s good that you've shaved your stubble, it didn’t really suit you.”

“I agree, it’s not right to hide this handsome face from the world.” The younger man was resting his left thumb on his chin and his right fist on his hip, one eyebrow arched up. He must have practiced that pose in front of the mirror a hundred times.

Gren chuckled at that thought and was misunderstood.

“What? Even you must admit I’m a handsome guy.” Soren kept the pose and added a crooked smile, which only succeeded in making him look even dorkier.

“Yes, I admit you’re a good looking kid.”

“ _Kid_? You can’t be much older than me.”

“I’m 24.”

“So, you’re just...” Soren counted on his fingers “six years older than me!”

18 years old and he still needs to count on his fingers? Cute kid. However, a very talented one, if he already distinguished himself in Katolis’ elite guard.

“Six years are enough to separate the men from the boys. Let’s have dinner now, kid.”

“I’m not a kid!”

Gren’s laughter echoed in the halls. He could totally understand Amaya now, having a little brother to tease was fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gren is an angel. But I’m afraid he’s more a mother hen than a big brother. Sorry, deary, your old brother days are counted...
> 
> This chapter actually gave me a stupid PWP idea (naked boys in a shared bathing room... *drools*), but it doesn’t really fit the general mood of this fic. If the idea sticks, I might write it down as another side story... *adds to the growing list*


	5. Chapter 5

## Chapter 5: Janai

## The One With the Blue Puppy Eyes

Dinner wasn’t a formal meal, but merely a reunion of people who got their plates of food and sat together to eat. Soren and Gren immediately located their preferred companions, who were actually sitting together. Amaya and her nephews were joined by Rayla, Janai and Queen Aanya, who was apparently set to know King Ezran better. As two young rulers of the human kingdoms, they’ll probably need all the allies they can make.

While Gren and Amaya were catching up, Janai got to talk with Soren. They had already exchanged some words before and during the battle, but the subject was strictly related to war strategies and army positions. His talents didn’t lie in the intellectual side, but he had fighting experience and good instincts that, under proper guidance, could blossom into real greatness. He’s made mistakes (who haven’t?), but his heart was in the right place now.

_And to think that, not so long ago, I thought all humans were disgusting untrustworthy creatures. The world is changing indeed._

“Er... so...” Soren was fidgeting. “I was wondering if you could tell me what happened in the... in the Sunfire elf place that my fath-, I mean Viren, went and made that shining giant ball become black?”

So he knows, consciously or by instinct, that mentioning who his father was could be dangerous amongst her people. Most of the Sunfire elves believed it was acceptable to ally with humans, but only to take revenge on the dark mage who devastated Lux Aurea. Of course, there were people who came to defend the Dragon Queen or protect Xadia from the invading humans, but most of her army was there because Viren destroyed their stronghold.

“Are you sure you want to know? It’s not an easy story to tell, I’m sure it won’t be easy to hear.”

“I need to know. Please.”

And here it is: that forlorn look with the blue puppy eyes. It was hard to believe that a lying monster could father such a pure adorable human. Not as adorable as Amaya, but cute nonetheless.

_Argh, all this time with humans must be making me soft._

So she told him everything. She started with fighting Amaya at the Breach, the destruction of the passage and Amaya’s imprisonment at Lux Aurea. She told him about the light judgement and how it revealed its subject true nature. She told him about his father’s judgement and what the Sun Staff revealed. Finally, she told him about the failed execution and the horror show that ended her sister’s life.

Soren listened quietly to her story, but by the time she stopped talking her throat was dry and her eyes were moist. He touched her arm and pressed lightly.

“Thank you for telling me. I am sorry for your loss.” His voice was a little hoarse too. “If it means anything, I’m sure you’ll be a great Queen. Your sister will be proud.”

_Queen. Hellfire. These children rulers have actually held their crowns for longer than me._

It hadn’t dawned on her that she was the rightful Queen of Lux Aurea now. Of course, she was her sister’s heir and the next in the line to the throne, but she’s always been sure that her sister would have children of her own to inherit the crown and Janai would spend all her life serving at her sister’s side as the Golden Knight. Will she be able to purse her own path when she’s the Sunfire Queen?

 _I am not ready_ , she thought.

 _Neither were these children ready_ , she answered herself. This war left too many new rulers, none of them ready to assume their responsibilities, but, for the sake of the world, they will have to be ready.

Soren was looking puppy-eyed to her again, probably wondering at her sudden silence. She patted him on the top of the hand.

“Thank _you_.”

“You know, I kind of feel sorry for Soren.” Janai said to Amaya when they were in their room.

“You’re getting attached to him lately.”

“It’s the blue puppy eyes fault.”

“What?”

“You know, it’s when he does that dejected puppy face. It’s kinda... cute. And, when I think about it, he also lost a sister in this war. I don’t know what is worse: losing your sister to death or losing your sister to betrayal. Khessa was temperamental and arrogant, but she was my dear sister. I wonder what that boy thinks of his sister now, I gathered they were rather close to each other.”

Amaya nodded. “Yes, they were very close. Perhaps as close as I was with my sister.”

“Your sister, Queen Sarai?”

“Yes. I still miss her, after all these years.”

Janai reached her hand to grab Amaya’s. It still was very embarrassing, but she found out she enjoyed holding hands. It seemed so... natural. Everything in their relationship was about equality and partnership, the both of them strong warriors, respected leaders and beautiful women. Hellfire, one month ago she would have knocked out anyone who told that she’d be in a relationship with a general of the human forces beyond the Breach.

After some minutes, the Sunfire elf broke their silence.

“I think I get why you paired those two boys in the same room.”

“Soren and Gren?” Amaya spelled.

Janai felt particularly proud of her improving sign language skills. Of course, she still understood sign language better than she spoke it, so Amaya still had to read her lips most of the time, but the simple fact that she was able to have a conversation with her girlfriend made all her efforts worthy. She was grateful that Gren and Kazi were both very patient.

“Well, the both of them are lonely after losing their sister, right? Since you’re kind of Gren’s big sister and now you’re spending all your time with me?”

“Someone’s quite...” the general signed, using a gesture that Janai still didn’t know “...today.”

“Sorry, what was that?” She repeated the gesture.

“S-M-U-G”, Amaya spelled, advancing on Janai with a wider smile in her face.

“I’m not smug.”

“Well, perhaps I’m the smug one.”

_Damn._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 5 is done! Thank you for keeping up with me so far!
> 
> I still don’t get the right feeling for Janaya, somehow it feel a little stiff and not natural. I’d like to increase the story time of them when I acquire a better understanding of how their relationship works.


	6. Chapter 6

## Chapter 6: Soren

## The One With the Cinnamon Synonym

After setting the sentry routes and the watch rotations and making sure Ezran was well guarded, Soren made way to his room. If he could, he would have stayed busy all the night to avoid thinking, but unfortunately even his well-groomed body needed rest. He knew his conditions well to know that his physical and mental performance would be affected by the lack of sleep. See, Father? I’m not so stupid.

There had been a time when his father was kinder and made Soren feel like he was loved, otherwise he wouldn’t have chosen to stay with him in Katolis when Mom went to Del Bar. He remembered when Dad would go mudsledding with him and Claudia even though he complained about getting dirt on his robes. He remembered sleeping in the study with his sister while they waited for Dad to put them to bed and then waking up to find that Dad decided to sleep with them there anyway (the three of them woke up with running noses). He remembered the feel of his little hand grabbing Dad’s fingers as they watched Mom going away. He remembered the proud look on Dad’s face when he talked about Soren’s prowess with the sword and Claudia’s talent for Dark Magic. All those memories can’t be lies, can they?

However, the person they met after returning from the find-the-Princes quest was almost like someone else. Dad used to make some not-very-nice comments, but the man he became was cold and cruel. The worst of it was after the Lucas Laura incident. Soren didn’t know how, but he was sure it had something to do with the bug-pal: when he and Claudia went away for their mission Dad had no bug-pal and he was normal. When they came back, Father had the bug-pal and was somebody different. When Viren came back from the Sunfire elves fortress, the bug-pal wasn’t so little anymore.

He hated bugs, they make lots of goo when you smoosh them. On the other hand, he had to admit they also make (with Dark Magic) the fluffiest pancakes ever. Ugh but yum.

On that happy note, he entered his room, finding that his roommate was already there, apparently just finishing unstrapping his armor. It was hard to judge someone’s physique when they’re wearing armor, so Soren was somehow surprised to see such a good set of solid shoulders beneath the metal. Considering that Commander Gren didn’t wear a sword or any other kind of weapon and acted more like a diplomat, Soren was led to believe that he didn’t do much workout, but those deltoids told an entirely different story. He might not know the difficult long words, but he knew his muscles.

“You’re also finished for today?” he asked, sneaking some more looks at the ginger-haired.

_I hadn’t noticed in the bathing room, but this guy has some mean muscles. His trapezius might actually be more toned than mine. I’m so doing extra push-ups tomorrow._

“Hello, Soren.” Gren turned. “Yes, I’ve just arrived. I guess you’re not on night watch tonight?”

_Damn, his abs are great too. I should add some extra sit-ups._

“No, I was on night watch yesterday, so I’m good today.”

“You got night watch on the night after a battle?”

“Someone has to do it and I was in better condition than the rest of the Guard.” Now that he was getting out of his armor, he started feeling the fatigue of the battle and stilled a yawn.

“You’re more serious than I thought.”

“Yes, I hear that a lot.” People always assume I’m not serious because I’m young, he added to himself.

“You’re still a kid, though.” Gren said, snickering.

“I’m not a kid...” Soren was already drowsy from sleep, the exhaustion washing over him in a tsunami wave now that he was relaxed.

Gren, seeing that the younger man was almost sleeping on his feet, walked him to his bed without resistance.

“I guess it’s time for kids to sleep, get into your bed.”

“I’m telling you... I’m not a kid...”

“Should I tuck you in?”

“Shut up, Commander.”

“Good night, Soren.”

Soren didn’t even get to answer before falling asleep. The dreams started almost immediately and he was so tired he couldn’t wake up, even when made him relive everything that he didn’t want to remember.

Soren opened his eyes, awakened by his parents yelling. He couldn’t understand what they were saying, but it sounded bad. He noticed that Claudia was up too, looking scared and on the verge of tears. He walked to her bed and hugged her, murmuring soothingly to his baby sister.

“You know, Clauds, I learnt today from a Katolis warrior that there’s a spell that makes you less sad. It’s called a mantra.”

“A spell? Like Dad’s?”

“I guess so, but you don’t need to kill magical creatures to make it work.”

“Can you teach me?”

“You need to say ‘There is no synonym for cinnamon’ aloud a lot of times.”

“It makes no sense!”

“I know, what’s a ‘synonym’, to start with? Anyway, try saying it. It worked for me.”

“There is no synonym for cinnamon, there is no synonym for cinnamon, there is no synonym for cinnamon, there is no synonym for cinnamon, there is no synonym for cinnamon... hahaha, it’s like a tongue-twister!”

“So... did it work?”

“Humm... you know, I think it did. Thanks, Sor. You’re my favorite brother.”

“I’m your only brother.”

“You’re still my favorite.”

“Yeah. Now get some sleep, it’s late.”

“Okay...”

Soren was almost asleep again when he heard Claudia’s voice.

“Sor?”

“What, Clauds?”

“Can you tell me who taught you the mantra spell? I want to thank him.”

“It was a woman warrior, one of the strongest of all Katolis. Her name is Sarai.”

After some time, he thought his sister had already fallen asleep, but she said again, in a small voice.

“Sor?”

“Yeah?”

“We’ll stay together forever, right?”

“Humm, I you know I want to be the best swordsman in Katolis, right?”

“Right.”

“Well, I’ll probably go to camp to practice, hunt fire-spitting dragons and evil elves... you know, swordsman stuff. You won’t be able to stay with me when I do this.”

“I’ll go with you too.”

“But you don’t want to be a swordsman. Or swordswoman, whatever.”

“Anyway, I’ll go with you and I’ll keep you safe. You’ll keep me safe too.”

“I don’t need your protection, but I’ll protect you.”

“You won’t leave me, right?”

“I won’t. Now go to sleep.”

Soren’s parents summoned him and Claudia to their room. He took one look at their faces and instinctively knew something was wrong. He went to his sister’s side and held her small hand.

“Soren, Claudia... your mother and I called you here because have something important to talk with you about.” Dad started saying, his voice solemn, but with a strained look on his face. Dad never changes his face, something really bad must have happened.

His mother kneeled in front of them and looked at each one in the eye. She looked pained, but somehow relieved.

“My babies... Mom and Dad are having some adult problems and we agreed that we should take some time apart from each other, so we’ll be living in separate places for a while.”

Soren felt Claudia gripping his hand and held her hand tightly.

“Is it... my fault, Mom?” he asked, in a little voice.

“No, my dear, it’s nobody’s fault, much less yours or your sister’s. This is something that concerns only your father and me, that’s why we’re trying to fix it.”

Dad sighed, but smoothed his voice.

“My children, we have decided that I’m going to stay here in Katolis, aiding the King, while your mother will be staying with your grandparents in Del Bar.”

_Del Bar? But doesn’t it take weeks to arrive at Grampa and Gramma’s place?_

“You don’t love us anymore, Mom? That’s why you’re leaving?”

“Of course not, Claudia.” Mom’s voice was shaky, as if she was shivering. “You and Soren are my children and I’ll always love you, no matter where you are. That’s why we need you to make a very important decision. You can choose if you want to stay here in Katolis with Dad or go to Del Bar with Mom.”

_Go to Del Bar with Mom? But how can I become best swordman in Katolis if I’m not in Katolis?_

Mom’s things were all packed and she already had her horse’s reins in her hand. Soren was glad Claudia decided to stay in Katolis with him, but he was already missing his mother. Dad didn’t have time to listen to his stories, or soothe him when he scrapped a knee, or wouldn’t compliment him when he did a difficult sword move that bigger boys couldn’t do. But he had an objective that required that he stayed in Katolis. And he loved Dad as much as he loved Mom.

As Mom turned to say her final goodbyes, Soren rushed ahead, tackling her in a fierce hug. She hugged back, as fiercely as he did, and gave him a kiss in his forehead. Seeing that Claudia was holding Dad’s hand, Mom beckoned her to join them in their hug, but his sister just kept looking, tears in her small eyes. Mom tried to kiss her goodbye, but her daughter wouldn’t have it, hiding behind her father’s legs.

Mom straightened, and said in in a strained voice “Goodbye Claudia. Remember what I told you.” She turned to her husband. “Take care of the children, Viren.”

“I will. Have a safe trip.”

“Thank you.”

Soren was left with Dad’s big hand on his shoulder, his little hand grabbing at Dad’s fingers while the other arm hugged his father’s leg. The three of them watched as Mom mounted her horse and galloped out of their lives.

The first time Claudia did Dark Magic scared the life out of him, she looked like someone else with her pupils dilating until they covered the entire sclera in a purple light and that out-of-the-world voice that was hers, but wasn’t hers. He never really understood magic, it seemed wrong to squash magical creatures to get power. In Soren’s opinion, power is something you build from hard work, with lots of sweat and that good burn in your muscles that meant his workout was actually working. He guessed that was the reason why he had zero affinity with Dark Magic.

Claudia, on the other hand, had all the affinity he didn’t have. Even their father had to admit she had a talent for it; she could almost instinctively perform magic that most minor mages couldn’t do in their lifetime. At that time, Soren was already distinguishing himself as a swordsman and the instructors were saying that his talent was the kind that appeared once in a generation, and only if it was a great generation. Their father was beaming and kept boasting about his children’s talents. Dad’s pride made Soren happier than any present he’d received in this life.

Soren and Viren were atop one of Katolis Castle wall walks. At such an early hour, it was empty save for the two of them, as people normally would not go up all those stairs for fun, even if they provided a good leg workout.

“My son. This won’t be easy, but you are strong. Now, tell no one, not even Claudia. You must carry this weight alone. It will be a burden for me to take the throne. And someday that throne will belong to you.”

_But Dad, I don’t want a throne. I just want you to love me and be proud of me._

Soren was brandishing his sword, advancing to the dragon that was terrorizing that backwater town where they ended up in. He broke one of the horns, dodged one giant paw, flipped back to his feet, and hardly had time to see a tail before it smashed into him, shoving him back. He bounced at the ground a few times before landing on his spine with a nauseating crashing sound. He slid to the ground, unable to move, and was sure the dragon was going to finish him off before it got side tracked.

He tried to get up back to his feet, but he couldn’t move. He tried again and again, until he realised it was impossible. He couldn’t move even one finger. He couldn’t even feel anything below his head. In rising panic, he called to the one person he knew he could trust unconditionally.

“Claudia! Claudia! Help me...”

He knew he wasn’t the smartest guy, but no one knew his body better than him. And he knew he couldn’t move and he wouldn’t get better. He wouldn’t be holding a sword any longer. The only thing his Dad was proud of was his talent with a sword, and he didn’t have that anymore. As frustrating as his now useless muscles were, it couldn’t compare to the frustration at his father’s disappointment.

However, when he saw Claudia’s face so pained from his condition, he knew he had to stay positive for the sake of his little sister. What were that poems that she was reading the other day? Haikus?

He and Claudia had just been released from the prison after Ezran ( _King_ Ezran, he reminded himself) acquitted then of the treason charges and made their way to their father’s cell. This was the moment Soren had been dreading all the time, the moment they would have to face Dad with their failed mission report. He knew his father would be extremely disappointed, and that thought hurt more than any spine-crushing tail blow.

“But Dad,” Claudia said, “Soren could have died!”

“It doesn’t matter!” Viren shouted.

Soren didn’t believe his ears. “Dad?”

“Soren. I said ‘do the right thing,’ and somehow you heard ‘kill the princes.’ Oh... this is disappointing, son. Even for you.”

 _‘Even for you’_. Is that man... really Dad?

“Claudia, you believe me, right?”

“Oh, Sor-bear. I believe you thought you heard it, but you obviously made a mistake. We’re just really lucky you messed up the mission you thought you had, huh?”

_Even you, Clauds? Weren’t we supposed to have each other’s backs?_

‘I am a Crownguard. Shouldn’t the leaders know what’s going on?” he asked Dad when they got in Xadia.

“Enough, Soren!” His father yelled. “If you want to lead, you need to learn how to follow. And if you want to learn how to follow, you need to learn how to. Shut. Your. Mouth. Perhaps you could look to Prince Kasef for an example.”

He and Claudia were overlooking the stronghold of the Sunfire elves when she gasped and grabbed his shoulder. They looked down, seeing one lone figure in white advancing to their location, a golden staff in your hand and with the little bug-pal (not so little anymore) draped around Dad’s shoulders. The markings of heavy use of Dark Magic were still strong on Viren’s face, a cruel smile breaking the grey skin.

“Dad?” he asked. He wasn’t sure that person was his father.

Soren watched as his father laid a hand on Prince Kasef’s shoulder, guiding him forward. The self-appointed king looked back at him, that pale eye glinting in the light of the fires. He didn’t need words to know the real meaning: you are a failure.

But he saw what Prince Kasef turned into. A monster. That’s what Dad wanted to turn me into?

Soren sneaked away, running towards his horse. Claudia caught up with him downhill.

“Soren! What’s going on? Where are you going?”

“I can’t stay here anymore, Claudia. You’ve seen what’s going on. What Dad turned Kasef into. What... what Dad turned into.”

“Maybe he’s just doing things that must be done.

“Claudia, you’re changing too.” And he didn’t mean just her hair. “But it’s not too late. Come with me, Claudia. You can leave him!”

“Please, Soren, don’t.... don’t do his to me. Don’t make me choose. Not again!”

He felt guilty. He knew it wasn’t fair.

“Okay. Goodbye, Clauds.”

“No!”

He walked to his horse, hearing his sister’s voice. “No! No, no, no!”

The battle had finished and Soren was looking for his King. He heard Ezran’s voice and ran towards it. The scene that he found was terrifying: Viren was standing in front of Ezran, his staff raised to deal a mortal blow.

“No! Drop the staff, Father. It’s over,” he said, his sword raised in front of him, ready. “I am a Crownguard and _he_ is the true king. I will do whatever is necessary to protect his life, because now I know what the right thing to do is. Do you hear me?”

“Soren, wait!” His sister came running to them. “You’re making a mistake!”

They kept saying that the mistakes were his, not theirs. But now he knew his mind and his heart.

“Lay down your staff... and surrender!”

But Viren wouldn’t have it. He raised his staff to strike. Before either of them noticed, Soren’s sword found itself in his father’s heart. Viren staggered back, gasping, and went down, disclosing Claudia’s disbelieving face looking straight at her brother. Seeing her face made Soren finally understand what he had done.

“How could you?”

He dropped to his knees, releasing his sword.

“I... I... I had no choice...”

“He was just an illusion! Claudia, where is he?”

His sister smirked as she walked away. That was the last he saw of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was so long! Don’t worry, the next one should be shorter.
> 
> I tried to cut down the scenes from the original show, but they really set the mood. Poor Sor-bear had a lot to deal with. I wanna hug this kid until he squeals.


	7. Chapter 7

## Chapter 7: Gren

## The One That Was Too Short

It was the middle of the night when Gren woke up. His sleep was usually deep enough that he rarely wakes up during the night, so what happened?

_Ah, I see._

He heard ragged breathing and gasping. He immediately located the source of those noises, his shivering roommate tears visible by the moonlight that breached the windows.

_Should I pretend to sleep or should I go to him?_

His decision was made when he heard a noise that almost stopped his heart; a raw sob that seemed to come from the depths of the very soul.

“Soren? Are you awake?”

The only answer he got was the same gasping and whimpering noises that he already heard. By now, he was sure now that the other man, otherwise he would have either answered or gone quiet.

Gren got out of bed and walked over to Soren’s. The Crownguard was crying in his sleep, tears flowing down, making little whimpers while trashing around.

_I can’t go back to my bed now, it’s too pitiful. But I need to rest, otherwise tomorrow will be hell. What should I do?_

He decided to fill two needs with one deed: he just climbed into the younger man’s bed, put his arms around the swordsman, hugging him close and petting his head. Soren’s sobs seemed to calm down, so Gren kept cuddling until he felt asleep.

A few hours later, Gren woke up again, aroused by some movement. Since dawn was just breaking, it was too early to rise.

He noticed that the movement he felt was Soren was trying to squirm out of his arms, without much success.

“It’s still dark, why are you already getting up?”

The younger man, who had his back to him, jumped at his voice and looked back with the expression of a child caught stealing candy. His eyes were red and swollen from the last night.

“Sorry if I woke you up. I’m usually up at this time to workout. Now, can you release me?” Soren said, his voice hoarse.

“You’re such a good body pillow I don’t want to release you,” Gren said, playfully.

“Oh, come on. I’ve got some serious workout to do! And extra push-ups and sit-ups.”

“Okay, okay.” He released the blond, who was struggling to get away, making the Crownguard fall on his butt.

“Ouch! You did that on purpose!”

“I know I don’t do this kind of thing on purpose.”

“Yeah, yeah...” he got up to his feet, sulking.

“Soren, wait. Since I’m already awake, I guess I’ll join you.” He stretched in the bed before getting up.

“Huh? Why?”

“Because someone woke me up before the sun was up and now I can’t sleep again.”

“Okay. I got it. Just don’t slow me down.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was super short! I think I overcompensated the previous chapter here, but I needed the POV skip.


	8. Chapter 8

## Chapter 8: Soren

## The One Where Soren and Corvus Discuss Technicalities

‘Just don’t slow me down’, huh? Soren was starting to regret his words. Commander Freaking Gren was not only keeping up with him, but he was making Soren worry if _he_ was able to keep with the other guy’s pace. Dammit.

He was sure his powerful tights would let him retake the leading position when they ran up the stairs, but it seemed that the Breach Fortress had more stairs than Katolis Castle. By the time they went back to their room to change, Soren was a sweating mess. Seeing that the Commander looked only slightly winded up made him even more frustrated.

He’d never doubted the other man’s courage, everyone knows that a standard-bearer is an enemy magnet. Getting into a battle unarmed knowing all the enemies will try to take you down takes real guts. What can you do if someone attacks you? Thrust the standard pole into your enemy’s forehead? However, Soren didn’t expect that the Commander was at least as athletic as Soren’s. He was annoyed. Impressed, but annoyed.

It didn’t help that he woke up feeling like he had a cold. His body was sore, his eyes were puffy, his nose was running and he had a splitting headache. Maybe it was because Commander Gren used him as a body pillow the last night. Is he a kid or what?

After breakfast, he joined King Ezran in the antechamber of Queen Zubeia’s room, picking Bait up in his arms. Now that the glow toad warmed up to him, Soren would hold him in his arms now and then for a little cuddle.

“Ah, I’ve just remembered something. Aunt Amaya asked me if I could let you for a while. She wants you to help her with the training.” Ezran said.

“Me? Help with training? Er... are you sure? I’m not really good with this kind of stuff.”

“Didn’t you help Callum with his training?”

“I was picking on him most of the time, though. Your brother was never really good with swords. Or spears. Or horse riding. Or...”

“Ok, ok. I got it. Since you’re good with swords, I think it’ll work out.”

“You basically already agreed, right?”

“... Right.”

“Okay, I’ll give it a go.”

In order the let the wounded heal and promote the dialogue between the Human and Xadian leaders, they decided to stay a few weeks at the Storm Spire. It meant it was necessary to set a camp in the grounds below to house all the people.

Even with the triumph from the battle, tension between humans and elves was thick enough you could almost cut it even without a sunforged knife. Since the Sunfire Elves went into battle for revenge against Lord Viren’s attack on Lux Aurea, many felt that their alliance with Katolis’ rebels and Duren’s army was a temporary truce and that, with the threat gone, the humans should return to the other side of the Breach. Years of prejudice on both sides led to frequent fights breaking all over the camp. Elves called humans liars and thieves, while humans said elves were bloodthirsty assassins. Janai and Amaya were united in a joint effort to pull these prejudices apart, but it was a tough job.

Since this was the only place where elves and humans could unleash their mutual hostility towards each other, the place was packed when Soren arrived. He felt dozens of eyes looking at him, and a not-so-discreet murmuring began.

“Hey, isn’t that Lord Viren’s son?”

“What is the son of the enemy’s leader doing here?”

“I heard he betrayed his father to come here.”

“So he’s a traitor and an enemy?”

“Wait, I heard he saved King Ezran’s life.”

“Wasn’t that because he has an interior motive?”

Hah, as if I were smart enough for all the politics and intrigues.

Feeling hostile looks on his back, he made his way to General Amaya, who was supervising the training.

“Good to see you here, Soren”, Gren translated.

“Thank you for inviting me, General. But I’m not so sure I’m the right man for the job, though.”

“Don’t worry, you won’t be training beginners. People here are experienced fighters, think of it as fighting practice. These training grounds help to keep their skills sharpened and release some tension. Besides, it might be good practice for you too, if you wish to evaluate their strength yourself.”

“It’s like a duelling club, then?”

“You can say that.”

“Ah, this is more my thing. So, where do I start?”

His first assignment was a group he was already familiar with: the group of Katolis’ rebels who gave up the fight before the march to Xadia. The feeling of walking away to do the right thing was something that Soren understood. General Amaya probably understood the hostility from the other groups and gave him a group of people he already knew from the castle. Even if they opposed his father, Soren could feel they knew he was on their side, and he was grateful for that.

He set the group into pairs to fight each other and walked around, giving people advice. Not being the one who actually fought was new to him, but he was beginning to understand why the General thought it’d be a beneficial experience for him. In order to point people’s weaknesses and vulnerabilities, he had to focus his mind in the observation. He usually did this instinctively during the fights, reacting accordingly, but this kind of focus was different and gave him a better understanding of the different fighting styles.

By the end of the day, he selected the best three fighters of his group for a single combat exercise against him. He crushed them, of course, but gave his group some useful pointers about what he did, demonstrating some moves at their request.

“You can try me if you’re tired of picking a fight with small fry.”

Soren turned at the voice and faced Corvus, who was dangling his chain grappling hook left to right.

“What? Do you want a rematch?” Soren asked, a smug smirk on his face.

“The last time wasn’t even a fight. You hit the back of my head when I was dealing with your sister.”

“Technicalities.” He shrugged the accusation off.

“What? Don’t have the confidence to take me head on?”

“You wish. Bring it on, old man.”

“Er... you know I’m just two years older than you, don’t you?”

“Whaaat? Just two years?”

“... I’m sure I don’t look that old...” Corvus said, moving to strike.

Fighting against a chain weapon was tricky. The spear point could be used for piercing and the grappling hook could snag on your weapon, arm or leg. The chain could be wrapped around the user’s arm for protection or looped around the opponent’s neck. Even the body of the chain could be used in a long distance attack. The spinning movement increased the speed of the blow, making it very difficult to defend yourself or land an attack. In the hands of an experienced fighter like Corvus, it was almost undefeatable.

Claudia would have said that undefeatable is just another kind of defeatable.

He dodged a leg snatch (why do people always try to sweep his legs?), leaping to the side and running towards Corvus. He knew that he was at a disadvantage against a ranged weapon and needed to close the distance. He deflected another blow, pushing the hook to the side, careful not to get his sword snagged, but the third try successfully trapped his left arm. Instead of panicking, he reacted mostly by instinct. The swordsman used the momentum of the attack to pull the chain, unbalancing his opponent, and touched the tip of his sword to the other man’s neck.

He didn’t notice before, but the entire training pitch was silent. Everyone had turned to watch their fight, humans and elves alike.

“It’s my loss,” Corvus said, raising his hands in an unmistakeable sign of defeat.

Soren lowered his sword, feeling light-headed. He felt his swordsman talent kick in during the fight and it felt _right_.

“I was lucky. If the fight had dragged on, you would have worn me out before I was inside striking distance.”

“No, I don’t think so. That last move? All chain users know that tangling your opponent can be used against you, there are countermeasures for this kind of attack, but you nailed the perfect timing and strength. Well done.”

Soren didn’t expect that. He felt his face burning up.

“Hey, aren’t you too old to blush when someone compliments you?”

“Shut up, this compliment thing is new and feels good. For me it’s usually ‘it’s below my expectations, son’, ‘you know how your brother is’, ‘this is disappointing even for you, son’, ‘you should learn from Prince Kasef’...” he rambled in a mocking voice.

“Aww, you’re such a good kid!” Corvus said, squeezing him in a tight embracing with tears in his eyes.

“Who the heck is a kid? Hey, let me go. Seriously, man, I can’t breathe. If this is revenge for the match, you’re not playing fair. Come on!”

Soren was panting when the tracker finally released him and made a show of checking himself for broken ribs before dismissing his group.


	9. Chapter 9

## Chapter 9: Gren

## The One With the Overfriendly Doubleflame Tiger

“Got your... backside handed to you, huh?” Gren translated to Corvus, censoring the a-word.

“He’s _good_ , Amaya. I’d heard the rumors, but... you know, when you see his usual character you don’t give them much credit.” Corvus answered.

“You’ve seen him fighting against Lord Viren’s army.”

“I was too busy not getting killed by monsters to notice.”

“Janai thinks he’s cute and now she thinks he’s good. She might have developed auntie instincts.”

“I’m here, you know...” Janai scowled.

“And what do you think about your roommate, Gren?” Amaya gestured him.

“He’s a good kid. He was so worried about having imprisoned me last time that he kept stumbling and almost walked into a wall.” He said, gesturing at the same time.

“He got the best of both of you” Amaya gestured to Gren and Corvus “without even having to fight. Does it speak volumes about his cleverness or about your lack of it?” she said, jokingly.

“Hey, it was two against one. And he sneaked behind my back with a rock!” Corvus said.

“What’s _your_ excuse, Commander Gren?” Janai asked him.

“He has an excellent excuse...” Gren started translating. “Hey!”

“Hey?” Janai startled.

“Ah... no... sorry, that was me. I mean, me Gren, not me Amaya.” Gren said, blushing.

“But what _is_ your story?” the Sunfire elf asked.

“I’m also curious.” Corvus added.

“It’s a long story, I’ll tell you later.” He said, gesturing “I’m not telling them” to Amaya. She smirked, knowingly.

At least someone’s having fun, Gren thought.

They still had some time before the next leader’s meeting, but Gren was unsure about what to do. He would usually chill with Amaya or Corvus, but the later had been specifically requested by King Ezran and the first was spending some quality time with Janai. His eyes wondered around trying to find somewhere to be until they rested on the area designed to keep the horses and he decided to check on his horse and give him a rub.

The people from Duren had designed big horse tents that functioned like portable stables. They set them a little apart from the rest of the camp so the smell wouldn’t draft towards where they slept and ate. It worked well even with the magical mounts of Janai and Prince Callum’s girlfriend, protecting the animals from the elements and keeping them warm during the cold nights.

As he approached his horse’s tent, he heard a familiar voice.

“Ah... no... get off me... not there... stop licking me... let me go!”

What the fluff? Wasn’t that Soren’s voice?

He jerked the tent’s flaps open, but wasn’t prepared for the scene before him.

The voice had really been Soren’s. The blond-haired was pinned to the ground, his hair disheveled and his cheeks flushed. His breath was ragged from the struggle and there were small tears glistening in his blue eyes. The offender regarded Gren with teal eyes and seemed to reach a decision about his fate.

The Twin-Tailed Inferno-Tooth tiger stepped down from the Crownguard and walked towards him, the twin tails upright with a small curve in the flaming tips. The tiger headbutted his chest, rubbing its cheeks on him, and almost succeeded on knocking him down. A deep rumbling that sounded a lot like a landslide alarmed him.

“She’s purring, I think she liked you.” Soren said, getting up and brushing his clothes. “Be careful not to get knocked down, she’ll trap you and lick you until you’re crying from the tickling. By the way, thanks for saving me, I was in a really tight spot.”

“You’re welcome. But what are you doing here?”

“I had some free time in my hands and decided to check up on my buddy here,” he said, patting a white horse’s head. “What about you?”

“I was going to check on my horse too. But I’m surprised they let this Twin-Tailed Inferno-Tooth tiger in the same tent as the horses...” he was interrupted by Soren’s laughter.

“What’s wrong with that name?” the swordsman said between laughs.

Gren chuckled. “I heard from Amaya that Sunfire elves aren’t very subtle. But what would you call them?”

“Oh! It must be something really cool, you know? Like... Fire Giant Winged Cat!”

“What? How is that better than Twin-Tailed Inferno-Tooth Tiger?” Gren was laughing so hard his eyes started watering.

“It’s so much better it even has one word less! If you don’t like it, why don’t you suggest a name?”

“Me? Humm... Yes, I can see it’s hard to give it a name... perhaps Doubleflame Tiger? Why is it a tiger when it looks like a lion anyway?”

“Now that you said it, it does look like a lion... but Doubleflame Tiger actually sounds cool. As I expected, you’re quite good with words, aren’t you?”

“It comes with practice. Talking about words, the leaders’ meeting is about to start. Are you taking part on it?”

“Yes, I am. We should get going, it’s a lot of stairs to climb. Unless our new friend gives us a ride.”

“I don’t think Janai will enjoy it. Let’s just walk.” Gren said, exiting the stable with Soren right behind him.

“You’re a spoilsport. Well, stairs are always a good leg workout.”

“Aren’t you a little too obsessed with muscles? Ah, wait Soren.”

“Huh? What?” The Crownguard said, halting.

“You’re still a mess, I can’t let you go to a leaders’ meeting looking like this.” Gren said, combing the blond hair with his fingers and adjusting the younger man’s clothing. “Here, you even have a feather in your hair.”

“Thank you, Gren Mama,” said Soren, his face lightly blushing.

“Mama?” The ginger-haired stopped his fingers. He was aiming for big bro, not mama.

“You’re fussing over like a mother hen.”

“Oh, shut up.”

“Oooh, I managed to make you cuss.”

“It’s an order, not cussing.”

“I’m sorry Janai. She followed us and we couldn’t stop her.” Gren said.

He and Soren were halfway up the Spire when they noticed the Inferno-Tooth tiger had followed them and nothing they said could make her go back to her stall.

“It’s not your fault, Commander Gren. She probably took a strong liking to you and wouldn’t let go. That one is quite wilful.”

“How did you two get across her anyway?” Amaya gestured.

“She was in the same stable as our horses.”

“That shouldn’t have happened. I’m glad none of you got hurt,” Janai said, looking worried.

“How come?” Soren asked.

“Twin-Tailed Inferno-Tooth tigers tend to have short tempers and can attack even long-time riders, so they’re known for their unpredictability. That’s why this tiger shouldn’t have been lodged with the other animals. Yet... it’s said that they can sense the purity in one’s heart, perhaps it was lucky that the ones who found her were the two of you.”

The Golden Knight eyed the tiger, which was lying down with her head on Soren’s lap. He had tried unsuccessfully to get away from her, but ended giving up and sitting cross-legged on the floor, his hand patting the animal’s head. Bait was in the other side, resting his back against the Crownguard’s leg. Azymondias, the Dragon Prince, was asleep side by side with the glow toad.

“You’re popular, Soren.” Ezran said, chuckling.

The blond gave a dismayed look, but, as the meeting was just starting, kept quiet.

The whole afternoon was spent in the meeting. Having passed over the camp report, they turned their attention to the delicate situation of the Human Kingdoms: only Duren had formed a unified position under Queen Aanya’s leadership and had some kind of stability. Katolis was divided between Lord Viren’s supporters, who believed Xadia should be conquered in the name of human prosperity, and those who believed that the long-term war could finally be over. Del Bar and Evenere had just lost their rulers to elven assassins while Neolandia’s king had sustained serious injuries from the attack and the heir to its throne invaded Katolis’ borders and got turned into a monster in Xadia.

“What I don’t understand,” started Rayla “is who sent the assassins. By the description of Queen Aanya, they seem to be Moonshadow elves, but it’s not our way to invade the human lands and go rogue. Who could have issued these orders during the Dragon Queen slumber?”

“This is a good question, Rayla. None of us can understand how the orders could have been issued,” said Ibis.

“The body of my attacker is being studied by Duren’s scholars. Perhaps I’ll have more information when I return to my kingdom,” Queen Aanya said.

“It might be necessary to summon a Pentacle meeting with the new rulers regarding the new Xadia situation, but we’ll need to figure the assassins out before the meeting.” Opeli mused. “I’m sure the attacked kingdoms will want revenge for their fallen leaders.”

“About the assassins, do you think you could recognize the one in Duren, Rayla?” Callum said, turning to his girlfriend.

“I’d like to stay here guarding Queen Zubeia and Zym, but I’ll go if there’s any possibility to identify the body.”

“It’ll be an honor to have you as my guest.” Aanya made a reverence.

The last subject of the meeting was the most sensitive one: Lord Viren’s body whereabouts. They scrutinized the land beneath the Pinnacle where Rayla tackled him down, but only a giant smudge of blood was found. It seemed certain that the High Mage was dead, but the body seemed to have been removed, and even Corvus couldn’t track its destination.

“Have you found any information about my s... about Claudia?” Soren asked.

“No one has seen her since the battle, nor the corrupted Sun Staff,” reported Amaya.

“Do you have any idea where she might be, Soren?” Ezran asked.

“I’ve been thinking about, but nothing comes to my mind...” Soren said. “It’s our first time in Xadia, so I don’t think she had a hiding spot beforehand. Of course we were just outside Lucas Laura...”

“Lux Aurea” Janai corrected him.

“... when I left them, so she might have scouted a hidden place without my knowledge. Claudia is smart and resourceful, and she’ll find plenty Dark Magic sources here in Xadia, so I think we should be prepared for the worst.”

“What could be the worst?” Rayla asked.

“Since we don’t have any news on my father’s body, I’m assuming she has it. Considering she also has that golden staff with the black stuff glittering and the creepy little bug-pal...” Soren looked terrified “... I think she’ll try to bring Father back to life.”

_Dropping. Yes, now I’m cussing._

**OMAKE**

Rayla was walking towards the stables to check on Ethari’s Shadowpaw. She still felt guilty that Runaan’s Moonstrider got bitten by a Soulfang Serpent. If only she had been quicker...

As she reached the tent, she heard a voice.

“Ah... no... get off me... not there... stop licking me... let me go!”

_Holy Moonlight. What’s going on the stables during this time of the day?_

She decided to wait a few minutes until they left. There’s no way she’s going to walk into a scene like that. But if she waited too long she was going to miss the leaders’ meeting.

While she was deciding whether to wait or leave, the elf saw the flaps of the tent moving.

_Finally! Now get out so I can go in!_

Rayla watched as Soren and Gren emerged from the tent. She had no idea their relationship was like that, but what she was seeing was unmistakable: Soren had a flushed look on his face, with his hair and clothes totally disheveled. Oh my... there’s even a feather in his hair, they must have rolled all around the ground.

As she stood flabbergasted out of their sight, they stopped right at the stable entrance.

_No! Get moving!_

She saw Gren tugging at Soren’s clothes, his hands brushing over the Crownguard’s hips and chest before combing the blond hair with his fingers. Soren’s face flushed lightly as Gren’s fingers halted lingering on his nape.

Unable to watch any longer, Rayla sneaked out and went to the Storm Spire. She decided it’d be better to arrive early than too late for the meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading so far!
> 
> The stable scene was fun to write, but, depending on where your interests lay, it was far more interesting from a third party point of view. Enjoy the omake!
> 
> Please, let me know what you're thinking of this work so far! ^^


	10. Chapter 10

## Chapter 10: Corvus

## The One With the Beard Competition

“I heard that Soren is making you sleep deprived.”

Gren, who was losing a fight against a yawn, looked at his interlocutor with tired eyes. They had just left a meeting and were heading back to their quarters before dinner.

“It seems the kid is quite energetic on the mornings too,” Corvus continued relentlessly as the ginger refused to acknowledge him.

“You know, you shouldn’t speak of _this_ kind of thing where anyone can listen,” Opeli said behind them, her face slightly flushed. Corvus stepped to the side, allowing her to join them. She did it gracefully, bowing her head a little to thank him.

Unlikely as it was, the two of them had gotten closer when they fled after Lord Viren’s coup d’état, each relying on the other’s strengths to reach Duren safely. Opeli was the one who talked Queen Aanya into marching to Xadia to engage Viren’s army (ultimately bringing victory to Ezran’s side), but what stole his heart and soul wasn’t just her brilliance at her home turf. He felt hard for the Council Adviser in her most vulnerable moment, hiding in the woods when she’d never lived outside the castle walls, standing strong and steady even though she was scared from facing an unknown environment. That she was as beautiful and pure as a white rose in full bloom didn’t hurt either.

At this point, he was, much to her vexation, earnestly trying to woo her. She didn’t encourage him, but she also didn’t reject his attentions, which was probably a good start.

“Lovely Opeli, you too must have noticed that this guy even stuttered today while interpreting Amaya, didn’t you? We’ve been here for only three days, but apparently Soren’s so demanding Gren can’t get enough sleep...” he added, watching her flushed face getting even redder.

“What about me?” the Crownguard inquired, appearing from seemingly nowhere.

“We were just talking about how Gren looks tired these days, Soren,” Corvus said, speaking louder over Opeli’s coughing fit.

Soren eyed Gren, who was stifling another yawn.

“He’s right, bro! Your eyes are all puffy, you should sleep earlier if you mean to join me for workout on the mornings.”

_Pffft, “bro”? Is this guy for real?_

“Workout?” Opeli asked, narrowing her eyes at Corvus. Beautiful, brave and brainy.

“I’m good,” Gren said, patting the younger man on the top of the head, “I just need time to get used to waking up before sunrise.”

“I’ll let you in a little secret,” Corvus said in his best stage whisper, putting one arm around Soren’s neck and pulling him closer. “Our friend Gren here is all bright and sunny, but he has a hard time waking up early. In the first months at the Breach, we used to have to drag him out of his bed to get him up on time. We tried to steal his blankets away once, but we stopped when we found out he sleeps stark-naked.”

“I didn’t want to know this,” Opeli complained with a sigh.

“Wait. He does wear clothes at night. I’d have noticed if I was sleeping with a naked guy,” Soren pointed out.

“I wouldn’t walk around naked in a shared room, would I?” protested Gren, outraged.

“You’re missing the point, Soren. This sleepyhead is waking up before sunrise everyday just to keep _you_ company for working out. I’d say it true love... just like me and Opeli,” he declared, sneakily slipping one arm around her shoulder.

“Don’t be silly,” she objected, slapping his hand while blushing furiously.

“As I keep telling Amaya, it’s not like thi...” Gren started to protest before Soren cut him off.

“Huh? So you’re like that too?”

_Too? You don’t mean... are you admitting you are a couple?! Why haven’t I heard about this yet? Spill all the tea, man!_

“I had no idea you worked out, Opeli.” Soren continued. “Is this guy any good as a workout buddy? Just let me know if you need any tips when we’re back at Katolis.”

“What? Ah, y-yes, sure...” she replied, flabbergasted.

“Awww, Soren...” Corvus said, locking the Crownguard in a bear hug. “You’re such a cute, innocent kid! A jock, but a good kid anyway...”

“I’m not a kid. You’re the one who’s an old man!” the blonde protested, trying to free himself.

_O-... old man? This again?_

Opeli’s snicker brought Corvus back from his shock. She was looking at him with an amused look and that pretty slim hand covering up a smile. He really liked it when she smiled, even if she was laughing _at_ him instead of _with_ him.

“As I already told you before, I’m only two years older than you, Soren! Actually, Gren is older than me by four years.” Corvus blurted, releasing the younger man.

“Whaaaaaaaaaat?” the blonde exclaimed, his surprised eyes going back and forth from Corvus to Gren disbelievingly. “But Gren looks younger than you!”

_Ouch._

“Soren, you can’t go around telling people they look old...” the ginger intervened.

_Double ouch._

“Hey, don’t you go all Gren Mama on me, bro! Maybe the beard makes him look older?”

_Don’t these guys have any mercy?_

“Soren, just because _you_ can’t rock a beard it doesn’t that people who can are old.” Corvus teased, trying to regain some of the terrain. “Well, I guess you _are_ too young to wear a beard anyway, you’ll probably look like a child who glued a wig to his face.” He made a dramatic pause, “Nah, you’ll look like a child with a dead squirrel glued to his face.”

“That is just disgusting, Corvus,” Gren sighed.

“I agree,” mumbled Opeli.

“I can totally rock a beard! If you don’t remember, I was rocking a beard when I arrived here at the Spire! I shaved it because it itched like hell, but I’m sure I’d look much better with a beard than you,” the blonde ranted.

“I remember _Gren_ rocking a nice stubble, but I don’t really remember yours, Soren...” said Corvus, grinning playfully. At least now it was _him_ doing the teasing, not the other way around. “Good kids like you should just leave the beards to the real men.”

“I’m not a kid!” growled Soren. “Alright. That’s it. I’m challenging both of you,” he said, pointing to Corvus and Gren.

“And what do I have to do with this?” Gren sighed.

“What is your challenge, kiddo?” Corvus asked over Gren’s protest.

“A beard competition!”

_This kid isn’t for real,_ Corvus thought while laughing so much his abdomen started to ache.

“Alright.” He wiped a tear. “We accept your challenge. Bring it on, kid!”

“Don’t go around accepting challenges on my behalf, Corvus,” Gren protested.

“Too late!” both the other men yelled gleefully.

“But you’ll have to shave your stubble! Otherwise you’ll have a head start!” the blonde complained.

“No! Not my stubble! I’ve had it since I could grow a beard!” he cried.

“Ah, I’d like to see you with a clean shaved face,” Opeli blurted before she could control herself.

“You don’t like my beard?” he was hurt.

“I never said that!” she objected.

“Ah, so you _do_ like my beard.”

“I never said that either! Argh, you’re impossible!”

Opeli stormed ahead, going towards her room so flustered even her ears were red.

“Man... Opeli’s a serious person, you can’t go around teasing her like that. She’ll end up hating you, you know?” Soren said with a knowing grin on his face.

“I’ll be... hated...?” he whispered, feeling a heavy weight on his chest.

“Soren, you can’t say these things!” Gren scolded. “And Corvus... you are really helpless if you need to take love advice from this guy,” he said, pointing towards Soren with his thumb.

“Huh? What do you mean by that, bro?” The blonde looked annoyed.

“You don’t really have love experience to give people advice, do you?”

“Hey, it can’t be helped! One moment people were really friendly to me and then, when Clauds took an interest in them, they avoided me as if I was stinking or something. And I was sure I took baths, so I wasn’t stinking!”

“What? Is that so?” Gren looked at Soren with a surprised face. The Lieutenant was probably just teasing the younger man, but wasn’t expecting it to be true.

_Ah, yes... Come to think of it, I heard that rumor that anyone who approached Soren would get turned into a guinea pig by Claudia. Apparently, these guys haven’t heard it, but I won’t be the one who tells them._

“Anyway... isn’t Opeli your workout buddy? Your workout buddy is the most important person in one’s life, you should really treasure them.” Soren said.

“You really are a musclehead, huh?” Corvus asked, disbelieving.

“Thank you.”

“It’s not a compliment, Soren...” Gren said, looking away to hide his bright blush.

“Hey, as I keep saying, everything that has ‘muscle’ in it is definitely a compliment,” the blonde answered.

_Good luck with this one, Gren. You’ll need it_ , he thought while running after Opeli.

**OMAKE**

“Callum, what’s going on with the Human males?” Rayla asked her boyfriend when they finally had a moment by themselves.

They were at their favorite spot, overlooking the clouds at the Spire’s pinnacle, with his head resting on her lap.

“Huh? What’s wrong?” he asked back, with a puzzled look.

“A few days ago they were all scratching their chins and now they all have hair on their faces like Corvus. Is it a contagious disease or something?”

“What? Don’t elves have beards? Wait, you thought Corvus had a facial disease?” he was incredulous.

“Well... I don’t really see people with hair on their faces...”

“What about Soren when he arrived at the Spine? He had stubble on his face.”

“I thought it was like dirt, it came off when he finally took a bath and got rid of that stench.”

“Oh yes, he was stinking really badly at that time... and he hugged me like that, I felt I was smelling like him for two hours,” complained Callum.

“Make it three.”

“Three what?’

“Three hours”

“Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“Weeell... I just made sure I wasn’t sticking really close to you while you had that smell, so it didn’t affect me that much. Besides,” she added, grinning “a little _eau de Soren_ from the distance wasn’t as bad as your stinking red scarf close to my face when we were facing Sol Regem.”

“Hey, I’ve already washed my scarf!”

“I’m glad you did, I wouldn’t let you put your head on my lap otherwise.” She flicked his forehead playfully. “Anyway, you still haven’t told me what’s going on with the humans and their ‘beards’.”

“Oh, that. Corvus, Soren and Gren decided to do a beard competition and the other guys thought it would be fun to take part in it too.”

“... what’s the point in that?”

“Humm... well, beards are manly, aren’t they? Don’t they look mature and cool? Also, it’s something to entertain the men, since we’re all stuck in here for a while... What?” he asked her nervously when her face hovered over him with scrutinizing eyes.

“I’m glad you didn’t take part on this competition. I don’t really like the facial hair.” Rayla explained, lowering her head to give him a kiss.

_I shouldn’t tell her I only didn’t take part on the competition because I don’t have a beard yet, even though I really wanted to_ , Callum thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I’m sorry it took so long to update this! I was finally able to introduce the Beard Competition idea! *cries*
> 
> Actually wrote the next chapter before this one, but decided to change the order of the chapters to give the boys more time to grow their beards... The next update shouldn’t take so long as this one.
> 
> Comments are always appreciated! Thank you!


	11. Chapter 11

## Chapter 10.5: Gren

## The One With Gren’s (Lack of) Self-Control

**WARNING: E-rated**

Link: [The One With Gren’s (Lack of) Self-Control](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22988710)

_Author’s Note: I’m adding the links of the side stories as they connect to the main story for the sake of keeping things in chronological order._

_Side stories here are works with higher ratings (T, M or E) that_ _can:_

_1) Spice up the main work;_

_2) Be read by themselves; or_

_3) Skipped altogether if they just aren’t your thing (you won’t lose much in terms of plot anyway)._


	12. Chapter 12

## Chapter 11: Soren

## The One Where They Hold Hands

Soren didn’t have much in common with his father, but there was at least one trait they shared: both were creatures of habit. They woke up early and tended to stick to the same regular and busy routine every day. Their achievements came from honing innate talents with hard work instead of relying on inborn genius. But that was the limit of the similarity: on one hand, Viren didn’t like changing his well-stablished schedule even for King Harrow; Soren, on the other hand, was very flexible and able to adapt his plans according to his needs. Because of that, just a few days were enough to get him used to his new roles at the Storm Spire.

However, the change that he secretly rejoiced the most was finally having company to workout. Soren had wanted a workout buddy ever since he could do a push-up and he had wanted it more than a cow that produced ice-cream instead of milk. He could tell from Day One that training was far more effective with some friendly competition to fire him up. Besides, his temporary roommate was the personification of the ideal workout buddy: Commander Gren was attentive, always checked your form, was one of the most reliable people he’s met, was _the_ most Positive Thinker he’s met, and, much to the Crownguard’s vexation, was slightly more toned than him (those perfect deltoids should be illegal).

When Corvus pointed to him that his precious workout buddy wasn’t getting enough sleep, Soren was so vexed that he joined their beds so the ginger wouldn’t have to get up in the middle of the night if he wanted to snuggle a body pillow (it actually felt really good to wake up with a warm back even if Gren’s growing stubble was starting to get scratchy). He insisted that the ginger slept naked to feel more comfortable and even suggested sleeping naked himself so the Commander wouldn’t feel conscious about being the only naked man in the room (Gren strongly objected to it and only half acquiesced to sleeping shirtless because of Soren’s relentless insistence). Soren would even spend full fifteen minutes awake in bed before waking up his roommate (the set of muscles on the ginger’s forearm was impressive enough to be a good fifteen-minute-study).

It wasn’t long until the two of them were spending most of their free time together, just chilling, talking or visiting their new winged friend at the stables, who adopted them as her humans and wouldn’t miss any chance to jump on them for a little cuddling. Soren was, much to Amaya’s amusement, even learning sign language from Gren. Fortunately, Gren was a patient teacher and Soren was an interested student, so he made some progress even if he kept misfingering his words. So far, his favorite word was shaking the ‘T’ letter sideways to say ‘toilet’.

Practice was also quite fulfilling as the one-on-one matches that he started on a whim became a training tradition. By this time, he was sure that the real reason behind the practice was to make sure that the old-enemies-turned-into-allies would spend their energy in friendly drills instead of turning back to being enemies; after all, in a place with so many different fighting styles, it was only normal that people wanted to test themselves against strong opponents. Workout buddy plus awesomely strong warriors to practice against? He hasn’t felt this good since he drank one of Claudia’s potions by mistake and was giggly for three days.

The strongest contestants were of course Generals Amaya and Janai. Soren was thrilled to be able to practice against such skilled fighters and, even if he still wasn’t able to win a single combat against the MVP queens, he felt he was really improving under the couple’s guidance, who started coaching him not only in fighting, but also in war strategy and leadership, for which they told him he had an instinctive aptitude. Soren never got properly instructed on these subjects (Father would say there was no point on learning them), so he was thankful for the attention they were showering him.

The third opponent he had most fun fighting was, surprisingly, Rayla, who was acting like an instructor herself. Soren grudgingly admitted that the elf had the upper hand in terms of speed and agility, but he still had more power and stamina. Soon, they found that their evenly matched skills and early rivalry made them especially competitive against each other, therefore resulting in the best duels.

As their bout came to a close with yet another draw (which would result in both of them dying if it was a real fight), they sheathed their weapons and went to catch their breaths by the side of the training pitch, leaning on a fence and watching Amaya and Janai kicking their trainees’ asses, feeling a bit sorry for them as they were in their shoes earlier this day.

“I see you’ve improved with the spear and the shield lately, but you don’t use with them when you’re fighting. Why are you practicing if you don’t mean to use them in real combat situations?” Rayla asked.

“Oh, that’s because I’m better with the sword than the other weapons. I mean, I’m pretty much awesome with any weapon anyway, but I’m awesomely talented with the sword,” he said, puffing out his chest.

“Oh, awesome...” she said, rolling her eyes.

“Sarcasm!” he said, pointing to her. “Hey, I’m getting better at it!”

Rayla’s hand went to her face, covering her eyes. The gesture was so natural that she must be the one who taught Callum the facepalm thing.

“Anyway, why do you even bother to learn other weapons if you can practice with your best weapon?” she asked.

“Humm... I guess I’m curious about it,” He mused. “My father would say that it was useless to waste time with something you’re not talented with, so I never got to practice with other weapons even if I had a curiosity in it. But don’t you think it might be useful in real life? Imagine you lose your weapon in the middle of a battle and need to pick up a weapon from someone else. Besides,” he added “it’s kinda fun.”

“Oh. I should say you shouldn’t lose your weapon to start with, but I get your point. Moonshadow elves have different fighting styles and blacksmiths design each weapon especially for each assassin instead of having us adapt our fighting style to a set weapon. Runaan always said that it was useless learning other person’s weapon because they were not meant for you, but I’m also having fun training with other weapons here.”

“Right?” He hesitated for a few moments before going on. “I’ve heard from Callum that this Runaan person was like a father to you. What was he like?”

Rayla weighted Soren before answering, probably judging if she should answer him or punch him. “Runaan took care of me since I was a kid,” she conceded, “He is... was the best assassin in our village and he taught me everything I know about fighting.” She took a little breathe to still her voice. “He was the one who led the attack on King Harrow that night.”

“I’m sorry for your loss... Wait. I remember him. Tall, long hair, turquoise eyes, armed with a cool weapon that was a bow or dual swords?”

“Yes, that’s him alright.”

“But... he was alive when I left the castle.”

“What? What do you mean?” she asked, startled.

“I... er... captured him after the fight and locked him in my father’s dungeon. He was alive when I left to chase you guys, even if he was a bit battered up. Not by my doing,” he added, hastily, so she wouldn’t have the wrong impression. He wouldn’t have her think he injured her father even if her father was an assassin who was sent to invade his castle and murder his king.

“Runaan would have refused water and food during his imprisonment.” Rayla said quietly.

“I’m sure Father wouldn’t let such an important prisoner starve himself to death. Not a magical prisoner. Unless he used him to do some Dark Magic...” He saw Rayla flinching. “Oh... sorry...”

“No, it’s ok,” she replied in that flat tone that Claudia would use when she wasn’t ok.

“Er...you know, Father might need something else then an elf’s life to do magic... perhaps he needed, I don’t know, his poo or something else that required a living elf...” Soren was grasping at straws, belatedly realizing how painful it must be to her. It still was painful for _him_ , and _his_ father was a cold lying traitor who literally tried to turn him into a monster.

“What? No, elves don’t have magic poo!” She was stupefied by the suggestion.

“I don’t know... Father and Claudia always carried around magical creatures and gross body parts for Dark Magic, maybe there’s a spell that needs elven poo.” He was getting desperate by now.

“I’m sure there’s no spell that needs elven poo!”

“Oh? Are you a Dark Magic specialist now?” Soren, said, crossing his arms.

“Of course no! But what kind of magic would need elven poo?”

“I don’t know, _I’m_ not a Dark Magic specialist. I’m not a magic poo specialist either,” he added.

“I think the scatology’s already gone too far...” Rayla said, rubbing her temples.

“I have no idea what that word means.”

“It means enough with the poo talk.”

“Hey, you’re the one who brought back the poo talk.”

“You’re so annoying!” she said, bringing the flat of her blades behind Soren’s legs trying to take him down. He jumped at the last moment, almost falling over.

“Hey! Stop with the leg sweep, Elf Girl! As I keep saying, it isn’t a thing in sword fighting!”

“You asked for it!” she yelled.

“I certainly did not!” he yelled back.

“The two of you are really getting on with each other, huh?” said a third voice.

“We certainly are not!” the both of the yelled at the newcomer.

Gren blinked at their response. “Okay, okay,” he said, raising his hands in a placating gesture. “Why are you so worked up anyway?”

“Elf Girl’s pissed because none of us is a poo specialist,” Soren said.

“What? That’s not the point!” she said, exasperated. “Why are you so obsessed with shi...”

“Language,” Gren cut, frowning.

“Er... sorry,” Rayla said, blushing. “Why are you so obsessed with... er... the scatological thing?”

“I told you I have no idea what that sh...” Soren looked up at Gren’s face and changed his words. “I have no idea what that stuff is.”

“It means the study of sh... excrements,” she explained.

“Oh, I see! Why didn’t you say it in the first place?”

“Argh!” Rayla let out a frustrated scream, throwing a punch at Soren’s arm.

“Ouch! It hurt!” the blonde said, answering in the same way.

“Guys, stop it...” Gren said, his words drowning under the younger people’s yelling.

“Hey! I didn’t punch you so hard!” she said, punching back.

“You did!” he hit back again.

As kept striking against each other’s arms, Gren took a long breath and, faster than they could have predicted, stepped between the both of them, got each fist in one hand and twisted their arms. Rayla and Soren immediately stopped, completely surprised that the pacific unarmed lieutenant managed to arm lock both the geniuses so easily.

“Now you apologize to each other.” Gren calmly said.

“She started it!” Soren said.

“He provoked me!” Rayla replied.

“Both were wrong, so both of you will say sorry.”

“But-“ they complained, simultaneously.

The ginger gave each of them a Look. That expression on the usually gentle face terrified them more than angry Viren and angry Runaan together.

“I’m sorry!” they said at the same time again.

“Now hold your hands together.”

“What?” the synchronized duet continued.

“I’m only saying this once.”

Human and elf hurriedly joined hands and looked guiltily at Gren.

“You will keep holding your hands until dinner.”

“What if I need to use the toilet?” Soren asked.

“Eewww, gross!” Rayla said, making a face.

“You can release your hands when you go to the toilet, but don’t try to cheat. I will know.” Gren said, knowingly.

“We won’t!” said the pair, emphatically nodding their heads and holding their joined hands up to show their commitment.

*

“Is it dinner time yet?” asked Soren, for the third time in ten minutes, scratching his growing stubble. He had forgotten how itchy it was.

“It’s hardly the afternoon yet,” said Callum, dryly. The step-prince didn’t well take the news that his girlfriend would spend the day holding hands with someone that wasn’t him. Soren could totally understand him: he knew he was quite dashing. His mirror told him that every morning.

“It can’t be that bad.” Ezran said, nibbling at a jelly tart. “I mean, Soren’s our friend and Rayla’s also our friend, so you two should be friends with each other as well.”

“The first time your _friend_ met me, he tried to kill me in my sleep,” said Rayla.

“Hey, we thought you had kidnapped the princes! Besides, _I_ even asked Claudia to wake _you_ up, but _you_ had to go and throw mud on _me_. It even got into my mouth,” Soren replied, reaching for a jelly tart from the royal tray. He knew Ezran would share one with him (only one or two, though), and he really needed something to lighten up his day.

“You were getting so well, what went wrong anyway?” Callum asked, still frowning at Soren.

“I don’t really remember anymore... what was it again?” Rayla pondered.

“I don’t remember either... but... I don’t know... I have the feeling I forgot something important along the way...” Soren said,

“I see you’re having fun, but it’s time we start the meeting,” interrupted Opeli, gathering a massive pile from Corvus arms, who had courteously offered to carry them.

Meetings at the Spire were very different from the High Council Meetings at Katolis. Soren remembered Father enclosed in a room with King Harrow, Opeli and the rest of the Council, sitting at a long table with piles of reports in front of them, everything looking proper and very boring. His father would be tired at the end of the day, so Soren and Claudia would set some dinner at their quarters just for the three of them to cheer him up. The siblings secretly loved having this time alone with Dad and looked forward to each Council Meeting.

The afternoon meetings here, on the other hand, were usually shorter because they met every day for reports, and far less formal. Instead of sitting on high-backed chairs around a table, people were scattered around the Dragon Queen’s lair as they wished. More formal people like Aanya and Opeli usually stood straight-backed, but most people took a more relaxed position, either leaning on the stairs railing or sitting at the steps. Today, Soren and King Ezran were sitting cross-legged on the floor, sharing a tray of jelly tarts and Bait cuddles, with Zym curled at the side of Ezran, napping. It meant that Rayla also had to sit on the floor, otherwise it’d be really uncomfortable to keep holding hands.

“Today I’d like to start this meeting with a report from the Five Kingdoms,” started Opeli. “The new rulers of Del Bar and Evenere were finally crowned. King Christoph was the late King Florian’s eldest son, but as he’s still quite young, his mother, Queen Helene, will act as Dul Bar’s Regent until he’s of age. Queen Fareeda, on the other hand, had no offspring, and has been succeeded by King Nasim, her younger brother.”

“So the new players have finally appeared, huh?” Soren said. “Do we know how they’ll react to the Peace Treaty?”

“We still don’t have any position from their side. I’m afraid they’re waiting to see a reaction from us before taking a position.” Opeli replied.

“I agree,” said Queen Aanya. “Their predecessors took a passive stand at the last Pentarchy meeting. They were fast to leap at Lord Viren’s suggestions to invade Xadia, but wouldn’t compromise unless we had consensus,” she revealed. “Since me and King Ezran will be motioning for peace with Xadia, I believe it’s highly likely that they’ll follow our lead.”

_Wow, such a young kid with so many grown-up words._

“I’m more worried about Neolandia, though,” the young queen added. “Their king was attacked by elves and is in a coma. Also, their heir apparent was killed while assaulting Xadia, after invading Katolis’ borders with armies from three kingdoms and participating in a coup to overthrow King Ezran.”

“Ugh, I hate that Kasef guy...” grunted Soren.

“Who’s the acting ruler there now?” Callum asked.

“It seems that the next line for the throne is Princess Anisa.” Opeli explained. “She’s quite young, but we know from the present company that wisdom doesn’t necessarily come with age” she said, nodding towards Queen Aanya and King Ezran. Both the young monarchs looked embarrassed, but very proud. Receiving compliments from stoic Opeli had this effect on people.

“About the Xadian side, it seems that Sol Regem isn’t very pleased with making peace with humans. I’ve heard reports that he’s been railing against humans and calling dragons and elves to arms.” Ibis announced, grimly.

“Do you think he’ll try to invade the human lands? Do we need to reinforce the Breach?” asked General Amaya.

“Since there’s a new path on the Breach, we might need to strengthen the human and elven forces at the border,” Janai guessed.

“But wait,” Callum interrupted. “Isn’t Zubeia the Dragon Queen? Why should people follow Sol Regem?”

“He might not be the king of the dragons anymore, but he still has power and Xadians’ respect. I’m afraid people might be tempted to join him if they aren’t satisfied with the current situation.” Zubeia said, sadly. The Dragon Queen was still weak from her long slumber, so she usually kept silent during the meetings.

“Also, there has been conflict between the elven races in the past, so we can’t vouch for unity.” Janai explained. “It’s probably the same within the dragons.”

“We’re already spreading the word that the Dragon Prince still lives and that we only succeeded in saving him and the Dragon Queen because of the aid of the humans, but many Xadians aren’t forgiving of two invading Human armies in Xadian territory, even if one of the armies was in our side,” complemented Ibis, grimly.

The Skywing elf’s words were received by a low murmur of disagreeing human voices.

“Sol Regem is old and bitter, but he might see reason if we take the time to convince him. In the meantime, we should consider summoning a conclave with elven and dragon leadership to keep nerves at bay,” Zubeia decided.

The rest of the meeting was relatively calm, so they wrapped up early. Soren was about to leave when Queen Zubeia called out to him.

“Crownguard Soren, do you have a minute?”

It was the first time the Dragon Queen talked to him. He halted, surprised, and turned back. Unfortunately, he forgot he was still holding Rayla’s hand, and ended up yanking the elf back.

“Ouch! It hurt!” she complained, wincing.

“Sorry! I forgot we were still grounded,” he apologized.

“Grounded?” Zubeia inquired, puzzled.

“Commander Gren grounded us because we were fighting, so we need to hold hands until dinner.”

“Is it common between humans?”

“No, it’s not.” Soren admitted.

“Well, I guess there’s no harm in Tiadrin’s daughter hearing this.” Zubeia decided, “The reason why I called you was to ask something about your father. I imagine you’re not comfortable with this, but please hear me out.”

“That’s ok.” It was not really ok, but he wasn’t going to tell that to the Dragon Queen, was he?

“That day that my egg was stolen something else disappeared. Something very dangerous.”

_Uh-oh. I don’t like the direction this was going._

“It was a magical artefact.” Zubeia continued. “A full-length mirror with a navette-shaped bronze frame. I wonder if you’ve seen it when you were in Katolis.”

“A full-length mirror, you say?” He said, almost to himself, feeling something tugging at his memory.

“Yes, it was here at my lair along with my egg. I believe it was taken by your father as well.”

“Humm... Father kept a lot of secrets and lots of magical stuff hidden in his secret dungeons...” he felt like he was almost getting it.

“The looking glass was surrounded by runes marks etched in the frame,” the dragon volunteered, trying to help.

“Ah, I think I saw something like that at Father’s study. There was a black fabric covering up a big mirror, so I only saw it once and for just a few seconds. Come to think of it, Dad was so mad I took the cover that he sent spit flying all over when he was yelling. Gross, right? But the mirror didn’t look like a navel, it was more like an oval with pointy ends.”

“That’s what a navette is, Soren...” Rayla said, rubbing her temples.

“Ah, come to think of it, the mirror wasn’t there the last time I went into Father’s study. Maybe he moved it to one of his secret cells?” he said, ignoring the interruption.

“As I feared...” the dragon let a sigh powerful enough that it sent his cape flying. “It had indeed felt into the dark mage’s hands. I only hope he hasn’t discovered the mirror’s presence...”

“Presence?”

“Nevermind, small one,” Zubeia said, fixing a giant blue eye on him. “What I’m going to ask is of utmost importance: you need to find the mirror when you go back to Katolis and you must keep it safe until you can get it back. It’s powerful enough to determine the fate of the world and, if it falls into the wrong hands, the balance in History might be disturbed so greatly it’ll tip to the wrong way.”

_Oh, great. Now I’m in charge of another seesaw mission_ , Soren said to himself. _Can’t they just put a stopper under each end to keep it from moving up and down?_

**OMAKE:**

“See? You don’t really need to stay angry at each other. Come on, I’m sure you have things in common,” cheered Ezran. “Why don’t we try a ‘this or that game’?”

“What is it?” Rayla asked.

“I’ll ask you a simple question of preference and you just answer me what you like.”

“Okay. Let’s give it a try.” Soren said.

**Ezran:** Let’s start this game! *party poppers*

**Callum:** Ez, wait! There’s something wrong here!

**Rayla:** What do you mean, Callum?

**Soren:** Oh, do you mean the writing style?

**Callum/Ezran/Rayla:** *stare at Soren*

**Callum:** I can’t believe he’s the one who noticed.

**Ezran:** I guess we forget that he does that every once in a while...

**Rayla:** Oh? I thought he was just a dumb musclehead...

**Soren:** Hey, I’m here too! *glares* Besides, I already told you guys that everything that has “muscle” in it must be a complim...

**Callum:** ANYWAY! What’s with this writing style, Ez?

**Ezran:** Miss Author felt that if she kept writing this in prose it’d become too much “he said, she said” and lose the pace, so she used this format just for this part of the story.

**Callum:** She can’t do that, can she?

**Ezran:** Of course she can, she has the Power of the Storyteller.

**Rayla:** Oh no, the Power of the Storyteller!

**Callum:** Is that a real thing?

**Rayla:** Of course it is, Callum! With this power Authors have great power over us characters. Only the Power of the Creators is mightier, as it is the only power that can create canon.

**Callum:** I really wished Author stopped breaking the fourth wall... anyway, let’s get this thing done ASAP. This writing style is creepy.

**Ezran:** So, for the first question *drum roll* Red or Blue?

**Rayla:** Red.

**Soren:** Blue!

**Ezran:** Tea or coffee?

**Rayla:** Tea.

**Soren:** Hot brown morning potion (coffee).

**Ezran:** Mountain or beach?

**Rayla & Soren:** Mountain.

**Ezran:** See? You have something in common! Sunrise or sunset?

**Rayla:** Sunset.

**Soren:** Sunrise.

**Ezran:** Er... eggs: scrambled or sunny-side-up?

**Rayla:** Scrambled.

**Soren:** Sunny-side-up.

**Ezran:** Hair color?

**Rayla:** Brown.

**Soren:** Ginger.

**Rayla:** *awkward after remembering last chapter’s Omake*

**Ezran:** Freckles or dimples?

**Rayla:** Dimples. *eyes Callum’s face*

**Soren:** Freckles.

**Rayla:** *feels even more embarrassed*

**Ezran:** Pancakes or waffles?

**Rayla:** Waffles.

**Soren:** Both! With lots of whipped cream and toppings!

**Callum:** Ez, we know Soren likes both pancakes and waffles, it’s his favorite birthday treat.

**Ezran:** Oh, yes, the pancaffle thing.

**Callum:** We can’t know about that yet, Soren’s birthday fic is set in our future. Besides, you’re too young to read it, Ez. That fic it’s T-rated.

**Ezran:** *mumbles* I don’t need to read it, I was there... *raises his voice again* Beef or fish?

**Soren:** Beef.

**Rayla:** I’m vegetarian.

**Callum & Ezran:** *stare at Rayla*

**Rayla:** I can’t believe you guys! You traveled a whole month with me and never noticed?

**Callum:** But we never had meat while traveling, our food choices were restricted.

**Soren:** Don’t blame me, Elf Girl. We were all eating illusion-disguised worms when we met.

**Rayla:** *fumes*

**Ezran:** Dad or Mom?

**Rayla:** Mom and dads.

**Soren:** None.

**Janai:** *gesturing to Amaya* I told you we should adopt him.

**Ezran:** Er... sword or pen?

**Rayla & Soren:** Sword.

**Soren:** Who would choose a pen instead of a sword anyway? It’s small and not pointy enough.

**Rayla:** Ah, but if you can use the point to stab the soft part of the inner upper arm it might hurt so much the other party will drop their weapons.

**Soren:** Ah, I see where you’re going. You can also use it to stab at the neck or the ribs; even if it doesn’t break the skin it will make some damage.

**Rayla & Soren**: *look at each other in understanding*

**Callum:** *feeling hurt* I’d go for the pen...

**Ezran:** Ah, I see... *eyes twinkle* Spa or gym?

**Rayla & Soren**: Gym.

**Ezran:** Guard or invader?

**Rayla & Soren:** Guard.

**Ezran:** Sit-ups or sit down?

**Rayla & Soren:** Sit-ups.

**Soren:** Is sit down even an exercise?

**Rayla:** Nah, I don’t think so.

**Ezran:** *thinking of the next question*

**Soren:** Sit-ups or push-ups?

**Rayla:** Sit-ups.

**Soren:** Ah, you’re going for core strengthening, huh? But if you do plank holds during the push-ups you can also work the abs.

**Rayla:** Oh, it makes sense. I never really liked push-ups, but I should give them another try.

**Callum:** *murmuring to himself* My girlfriend is also a musclehead... *sobs*

**Rayla:** Offhand: shield or dagger?

**Soren:** Depends. Shield for open field battles and dagger for close-quarter fights. Bow or spear?

**Rayla:** There’s no point to a bow if there are no arrows.

**Soren:** Hey, you know what I mean!

**Rayla:** Yes, I know. Spear. I was never much good with archery.

**Soren:** Yeah, I’m kinda helpless with ranged weapons too.

**Rayla:** My turn: Jackie Chan or Jet Li?

**Callum:** *whispering to Ezran* Can she ask that here?

**Ezran:** *whispering back* Just pretend you haven’t noticed.

**Soren:** Jet Li!

**Rayla:** Yeah! *fistbumps with Soren*

**Soren:** Workout with partner or by yourself?

**Rayla:** I never had a workout partner. Runaan would train with me when he had time, but I couldn’t call him a partner.

**Soren:** Oh, that reminds me...

“I see you’re having fun, but it’s time we start the meeting,” interrupted Opeli, gathering a massive pile of reports in front of her.

“We’re finally back to prose!” Callum cheered with raised arms.

“Why I keep getting interrupted when I’m trying to remember something?” Soren agonized.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHAPTER END NOTES:  
> Sorry for the long Omake. I actually wrote all of it and then cut it off when editing, but I liked Soren and Rayla bonding over the exercise stuff and wanted to develop this subject in the future, so I moved the whole section to the Omake instead of just scrapping it out.
> 
> Everything about the situation of the five Human Kingdoms will become canon-divergent when the next TDP season gets aired, so I’ll probably need to change some tags when it does.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> English is not my native language, but I wanted the practice. Please, let me know if something is very wrong, I’m super open to comments!


End file.
